Dark Days
by BookLoverDutch
Summary: What happened to Newt after he tried to kill himself? How did he become how he is? And who is Lauren?
1. It Is Newt

It's late in the afternoon as Minho dashes through the doors of the Maze. The boy looks around, while still running, and moves to Alby.

"Hey," Alby greets his friend cheerfully. "You're early today."

Minho puts his hands on his knees and tries to catch his breath; he has been running the whole day. "It is... Newt," he finally pants.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Alby asks anxiously. "Come on," Minho says. "We have to hurry." He grabs Albys arm and pulls him into the Maze.

The boys have been running for at least ten minutes as Minho suddenly stops; Alby almost crashes into him. It takes him a moment before he realizes that the Runners at the end of the corridor are standing at something. No, not something. Someone. Alby reconizes the blond hair and the long legs immediately; it's Newt, just like Minho said. Alby runs to the small circle of people. "What happened?" he shouts. The boy on the ground answers.

"It was a bloody Griever," Newt growls. "One of those thing attacked me. I fled, fell over something and hurt my ankle. I know, I'm a coward, I'm a slinthead, and I can't walk."

Minho curses on the background. "We have to get out of here. The doors will close in ten minutes.""Just bloody leave me here," Newt says.

Alby frowns. Newt is quite often in a bad mood, but he never wanted to be eaten by Grievers before.

Minho shakes his head. "Forget it, shank. We're gonna take you with us, want it or not."

Alby lifts Newt until their heads are on the same height. "Man, you're heavy," he puffs. "Minho, help me." The other boy almost immediately appears next to him; it's almost frightening how fast that shank is.

They both draw one of Newt's arms around their shoulders. Then they carefully start to run; the little group of Runners follows them.

Minho – who is wearing a watch – tells them that they only have one minute left to get in the Glade. The group runs into the last corridor. The other Gladers are standing in the opening. Alby sighs relieved; they're almost there.

At that moment, the doors start to close.


	2. A Piece of Klunk

Newt freezes next to him, and Alby himself also can't move for a couple of seconds.

"Run, you shuckface!" Minho yells. Alby pulls himself out of his shock and starts to run.

The other Runners are already in the Glade; just he, Newt and Minho are left in the Maze.

Without saying anything, Alby and Minho throw Newt through the closing doors. He hits the ground hard, but luckily there's sand.

"Come on!" Alby shouts, and he pushes Minho into the Glade. Quickly Alby jumps through the small opening.

Just in time. The doors crash into each other behind him.

They have made it. All of them.

After enjoying his little victory, Alby pulls Newt up, who is rubbing the sand out of his hair.

"Did you really have to _throw _me?" he says irritated. Alby frowns; why does his friend act like a piece of klunk?

"It was being thrown or kiss the Grievers good night," Minho answers. Newt rolls his eyes.

"Jeff, Clint, can you bring him to the Homestead?" Alby shouts, sighing. The two Med-Jacks walk over to them and carry Newt away. Most of the Gladers just shrug and go back to what they were doing.

"I'm gonna get some food. I'm shucking hungry," Minho says after a while.

Alby can't do anything else than agree.


	3. Don't Worry

By the time the two friends have a full stomach, almost all of the Gladers are sleeping.

Exhausted of what happened that afternoon, Alby is walking over to the Homestead. He carrys a bag with food with him; Newt is probably as hungry as Alby was.

The Homestead is totally deserted, apart from Jeff and Newt. Alby finds the two boys at the first floor, in the small room next to the stairs.

"Hey, Alby," Jeff greets him friendly. He is busy putting away the big cardboard boxes that always are in the Box. Alby can only guess what is in them.

"Hey, Jeff," he answers absently.

Anxiously he looks at Newt, who is laying in the bed in the middle of the room. He is asleep.

"Don't worry," Jeff says, as if he can read Alby's mind. "He'll be okay. Just a broken ankle. He can't walk for a while, and he'll limp a little, but that's all."

Alby feels himself relax. "Okay. That's great." He puts the bag with food down on the nightstand.

"Well, I think I'm going to sleep," he says. Jeff nods, and Alby walks out of the room to find a place to sleep.

It's only minutes before the inanition takes over his mind and he falls asleep.


	4. Stupid Shank

The first moment after Newt wakes up, he has no idea of where he is or what happened.

Then the memories come back like a punch in his face. How he, fifteen minutes before the doors closed, had climbed in the ivy and jumped down, trying to get out of the Maze forever. His anger and shame when the Runners found him. The fear that they would find out what really happened.

Carefully, he opens his eyes.

He's still in the Homestead, that's sure. The room is abandoned. It has to be early in the morning; there is a dim light shining through the small window.

A bag is lying on the nightstand. Newts fingers pluck on the knot until he can open the bag. There's some food in it, and a note. It's Alby's.

YOU STUPID SHANK, is written on it. Newt smiles as he reads the words.

Suddenly, he realizes something he had to realize a long time ago: actually, his life isn't so bad here. Okay, he hates the Glade and the Maze so much that he rather dies, but what could he do without the others? The thought that he should have missed Alby, and Minho, and Frypan, and even bloody Gally and Winston, hurts much more than his ankle.

Tears fill his eyes and slowly roll down his cheeks; he wipes them away.

An old song pops into his mind, he can remember words sung with a sweet voice, words about being strong and being there for others.

"Why?" he whispers.


	5. Only A Month

Why had he been so stupid? Why did he only think about himself?

At that moment, he makes an important decision: he would live a better life, and never even think about killing himself. He would become a better person, someone who is calm and reasonable and loyal. The only thing he would never do again, is going into the Maze voluntarily; he'd only be remembered of his own stupid mistake.

Filled with new desire to start the day, he sits upright and starts to eat his breakfast: an apple, two slices of bread with ham and a flatten fried egg. He eats everything in five minutes; he didn't realize how hungry he was.

He wipes his hands, which are sticky of the apple, off on his jeans. At that moment, Jeff walks in. He seems to be his own, optimistic self, as usual.

"Hey," he says cheerfully. "How's your foot?" "Eh, I don't know, actually. You're the Med-Jack here, not me," Newt laughs.

In fact, he feels great; for the first time in ages, he feels happy, and his ankle doesn't hurt as much as yesterday anymore. Jeff grins.

"Well, let's have a look, then." He sits down on the edge of the bed and puts aside the sheet. Newts right leg is wrapped in bandage, up to three inch under his knee.

He raises his eyebrows. Jeff seems to read his mind.

"Don't worry, it's not that bad. I couldn't find any scissors, so I had to use up the whole roll," he says amused. His fingers pluck on the knot. The bandage is rolled off a few seconds later. Jeff throws the white cloth away.

Newt is surprised about how normal his ankle looks; he expected his foot to be half torn apart from his leg, according to how it felt yesterday. The breaking sound he heard when he jumped off the wall and hit the ground, still echoes in his ears. He shivers.

"It looks good," Jeff says, interrupting his thoughts. Newt looks up. "Really?"

"Yeah. It'll take only a month before you can walk again."


	6. No Problem

"_What_?" Newt yells startled, hoping that Jeff is only joking.

But the look on the boy's face is as serious as it could be, and Newts fragile hope falls into pieces. Not walking for a month... He won't be able to do anything!

The anger inside him starts to grow, but then he remembers he wanted to change himself, and he puts it away. Instead of starting to yell again, he calms his voice and says: "And how could I possibly do my job if I can't walk, if I may ask?"

Jeff shrugs. "Well, I think it's clear that you can't be a Runner anymore."

"That's no problem," Newt says with a slight smile.

"But I don't know what you'd do now," the other boy continues. "I can go get Alby, if you want."

"Yes, please," Newt nods. "I have to talk to him anyway."

Jeff quickly ties up the bandage again. Then he dashes out of the room to find Alby.

Newt stays behind, waiting.

**I'm really sorry, short one this time! Next chapter will be longer, I promise!**


	7. You Can't Be

_WICKED Headquarters, 2-16-2015, 10:40_

_Lauren Pallido, employee 6496_

_Note: Subject Newt is recovering from his failed suicide attempt. Brain activity is low. I hope he'll get better soon..._

Lauren sighs and presses the _backspace_-button 21 times.

Why did she write that down? She works for WICKED; she isn't supposed to like the subjects. She has to observe them and make useful notes.

She has learned to put her emotions away and focus on the welfare of the world.

Even though her memories about Newt tell her to don't do that. But she feels like she shouldn't think about them; it'll only make her sad, because he is gone now.

She looks at her screen again. Her personal beetle blade is secretly settled in the small room in the Homestead where Newt is situated. Alby is with him, and they are arguing about something. Lauren activates her headphone to listen what they are talking about.

"...Alby, I can't be a Runner anymore." "I know. But what else can you do? I mean, you can't walk for a month..."

Alby starts to walk small circles and mutters things under his breath, barely audible.

"You can't be a Runner, you can't be a Builder, you can't be a Track-Hoe, you can't be a Bagger or a Slopper or a Med-Jack, you hate killing animals, and if I'd let you cook, we'd all be dead in a minute." Lauren giggles as she hears that last remark.

Alby keeps walking until he suddenly stops. "That's it!" he yells.

Newt raises his eyebrows. "_What_'s it, Alby?" he asks. "You'll be second-in-command," Alby says. He walks out of the room.

Newt stays behind, his mouth opened, like he wanted to say something but he can't remember what.

A smile is spreading over Lauren's face.

She writes something down about Newt's new position; this is very interesting for the experiment.

She looks up at the screen again. Newt is just sitting there, staring at the wall, his face blank. A display next to Lauren's keyboard is showing a lot of different colours – his emotions.

Green for relief, blue for worry, yellow for surprise and a faint red for the slight pain he must feel.

After writing something down about the colours, Lauren walks away from the screen. She's going to do something that'll break at least a dozen of WICKED's rules, but she still wants to do it.

She wants to help.

**So, I just decided I wanted to put an OC in my story! She's gonna be pretty important so watch out ;)**


	8. The Packet

"The Box is coming up again!" someone yells. Clint looks up immediately.

_That's weird_, he thinks, _we've got new supplies yesterday_.

Along with the other Gladers, he sprints to the metal lift. The shutters are already opened by the time he arrives, and Alby is standing inside the Box. He is holding a small, grey package.

"What is it?"

Clint can't see who asked it. "I don't know," Alby answers.

After studying it for another few seconds, he shouts: "Jeff, Clint, you two stay here. The rest, get back to your work." Clint looks at Jeff, who makes a face and shrugs.

It doesn't take long before they are the only ones standing by the Box. Alby walks over to the two Med-Jacks.

He gives the package to Clint, who turns it around in his hands to have a better look at it.

Whatever it is, it is wrapped in simple, grey paper. There is an envelope on one of the sides. "What'd be in it?" Clint thinks out loud. "I don't know, open it if you want to know," Alby responds.

Clint is already trying to open the envelope. There is a piece of paper inside, scribbled with black letters.

Alby snatches the note out of Clint's hands.

"_Inside this packet are two other packets. The one with the blue paper has to be opened by the Med-Jacks, the one with the green paper is meant for Newt and may not be opened by anyone else, or bad things will happen," _he reads.

The three boys look at each other for a moment before Jeff breaks the silence.

"All right, let's open this stuff," he grins.


	9. Where To Use This

Clint tears the grey paper apart and throws it away.

As said in the letter, there are two packages; one with dark blue paper and one with a beautiful green colour.

"Eh... Can I be of any help, here?" Alby asks awkwardly.

"No, thanks. I think we can manage," Clint says. The leader shrugs and walks away. "Shall we take this to the Homestead?" Clint asks. Jeff nods.

They start to walk.

Five minutes later are the two Med-Jacks sitting in an empty room in the Homestead. The packages are laying on the narrow desk, in front of Clint.

Without saying anything, he tears the blue paper of the smallest packet apart. There's a tiny syringe inside, and another note.

"It says: _You'll know where to use this," _Clint reads. Jeff raises his eyebrows.

Carefully, Clint picks up the syringe and looks at it. The small tube is filled with a thick, blue-ish fluid. A completely random memory pops up in Clint's head. Suddenly, he knows what to do.

He and Jeff just sit there for a moment, looking at each other, before they both say the same name at the same time.

"Newt."


	10. Lauren, WICKED

"Newt. Newt, wake up." Newt opens his eyes and looks right in Clint's face.

"Hey," he says, half-yawning.

"I'm sorry I had to wake you up, but this is important," Clint says. "_What _is important?" Newt asks, suddenly totally jerked out of his sleep.

"The Box came up again this afternoon. It brought a package, and this letter." Clint lays a piece of paper down on Newt's lap.

_Inside this packet are two other packets. The one with the blue paper has to be opened by the Med-Jacks, the one with the green paper is meant for Newt and may not be opened by anyone else, or bad things will happen_.

"We've already opened our package," Clint tells, "but I think it's time to open yours now."

Without further explanation, he gives a packet to Newt and walks out of the room. Newt looks at the package, wondering if he should open it. He doesn't really know what to expect; this could as well be a time bomb. At least it doesn't _look _dangerous.

With a sigh he starts to tear the green paper apart. His surprise is great as three completely harmless things fall in his lap: a notebook, a pen, and another letter.

_To help you, _it says.

There is a signature below the scribbled sentence.

_Lauren, WICKED._

"WICKED?" Newt whispers confused. The organisation has never helped one of them before. Why would it now? And who is Lauren?

The door opens with a squeaking sound and Clint walks in again.

"And? What was in it?' the Med-Jack asks. "A pen and a notebook. And this." Newt gives the letter to Clint, who reads it and frowns. "Strange," he says. Newt nods.

"What was in your package?" he asks out of the blue. Clint sighs.

"A syringe. We don't know what it does, but we think it's for you."


	11. Griever Butt

"Are you sure about this?" Minho asks. He is holding Newt's arm, in case something goes wrong.

"Yes. As sure as I'll ever be," Newt answers, sounding tense.

Minho glares at Alby, who is holding Newt's right arm, and then at Ben, who is holding his legs. Clint and Jeff are whispering nervously in the back of the room. Sometimes Minho hears a couple of words.

"...we don't even know what it is..."

"...this could kill him..."

"...maybe it's poison..."

The anxious murmur of the two Med-Jacks stresses him, though he's trying to hide it. Maybe he is going to lose another friend.

Clint interrupts his thoughts by hurling out of the room. Jeff stays behind. "Eh... I guess we're not gonna do it today," he says, before going after him.

Alby gets to his feet. "I'm going to talk to them," he explains. He jogs into the hallway. "I should get going, too," Ben says. He departs the room as well. Minho remains with Newt.

"Do you... Do you want me to leave?" he asks awkwardly. "No. Stay, please," the other boy answers. "It really sucks to just lie here and do nothing. Being alone is the last thing I want."

He sounds so sad, and anger starts to grow inside Minho.

"I'm gonna find the Griever who tackled you, and I'm gonna kick its shuck ass as hard as I can," he growls.

Newt's face darkens, as if he has put on a mask, but then he smiles. "Go ahead."


	12. Bad Child

Lauren keeps staring at the white wall as Leeroy Carp, her boss, walks circles in front of her.

"I hope you know that you've broken at least twenty of our rules?" "Yes, mister Carp."

"Did you know that our most important rule is that you may not communicate with the subjects?" "Yes, mister Carp."

Lauren feels like she is a bad child, listening to the director at school.

"_Then why did you do it?" _the man yells, his face red with fury.

"Because I wanted to help the Gladers and WICKED at the same time," she answers. She keeps her voice calm to hide that she is lying; she did _not_ want to help WICKED. Not at all.

"Newt is the Glue, remember? He's the one to stick it all together. It'd be useful if he remembers something..." She bites her lip, hoping she didn't say too much. She did.

"_What?_" mister Carp shouts. Lauren sighs defeated.

"The serum in the syringe. It'd make him remember everything he needs to remember." Mister Carp stands perfectly still for a moment, then starts walking circles again, fast enough to make Lauren dizzy.

"I should discharge you," the man mutters. "They didn't use it," Lauren adds quickly, trying to conceal the worry in her voice; if she gets fired, she'll have to survive in the middle of a billion Cranks. She'd be dead in half an hour.

"Say that again?" mister Carp commands. "They did not use it," Lauren repeats. The man rubs his face with both hands.

"Only this time, Pallido," he growls. "Get out." Lauren sighs relieved.

She exits the room and hurries back to her own office. As she sits down in her chair, she immediately sees that the Gladers are having a Gathering. She puts on her headphone. A loud noise of voices comes into her ears; everyone is talking over each other.

"Everybody _shut up!_" Alby yells after a couple of seconds. The group gets quiet again.

"We made the decision," the boy says. "Tell them, Clint."

Lauren leans forward in her chair, but what the Keeper of the Med-Jacks says, makes her smile and gasp at the same time.

"We are going to do it. We are going to inject Newt with the serum."


	13. Are You Immune

"LAUREN PALLIDO!" Mister Carp hurls into Lauren's office, making her jump out of her chair. He grabs her shoulders.

"Are you Immune?"

Lauren just stares at him, her mouth half opened. She expected him to yell at her, to slap her, to drag her out of the building, but he simply asked her if she is Immune. This is ridiculous.

Mister Carp shakes her. "Answer me! _Are you Immune_?" he cries. "Yes!" Lauren yells back. The red-faced man lets go of her shoulders and seizes her arm. His nails dig into her skin. He drags her out of the office.

"Hey! Where are we going?" Lauren screams. Her boss answers without looking at her.

"If you want to help, you can better do it from the inside."

It takes a few seconds before the reality hits her. "Wait... Are you going to send me into the Maze?" Mister Carp doesn't answer, but she knows that it's true. WICKED is going to punish her by dropping her in the Maze.

Lauren almost wants to laugh; it would solve so many of her problems. She won't get eaten by Cranks, won't get punished for everything she does wrong, won't get discharged. The sound of mister Carp shouting close to her ear jerks her out of her thoughts.

"Get the Swipe ready! We'll send her up in half an hour!"

Several doctors run away to prepare things, and the reality hits Lauren again like a smack in her face.

The Swipe. They are going to wipe her memory.

In that short moment, a plan has already formed in her brain. She yanks her arm out of Carp's grasp and starts to run down the corridor, in the direction of the Box. According to the footsteps behind her, there are at least fifteen people after her.

Lauren takes a sudden turn into a narrow hall on her left; a few colleagues jump out of her way.

Turn right. Long corridor. Another turn. She sprints into the last hallway to the Box.

"Michael! Open the Box!" she yells. The guard – Michael – nods and opens the door for her.

Lauren jumps onto the floor of the metal elevator; the hard material under her knees makes her flinch. The door closes behind her. Michaels face appears in front of the fence.

"Good luck, Lauren," he says.

Then the Box starts to clank and everything turns dark.

**The big moment is coming... Finally, the Gladers are going to meet Lauren! This is gonna be fun! Prepare for the next chapter...**


	14. It's A Girl

"Everyone, _get out_!" Alby yells. "The Gathering is over!"

The eight Keepers quickly get up to their feet and hurry out of the room. After the last one closes the door, Alby stays behind. He stares at the wooden chair next to his, the one what has been empty for the first time in one and a half year.

Newt should be sitting there, yelling at everybody that they had to shut their bloody mouths while they try to discuss something stupid, like the fact that Frypan's bacon is always burnt. Alby bites his lower lip. They don't even know what the fluid in the syringe is meant for – it could be toxin! – and now they have decided to just put in into his best friend. Maybe he'll never... Alby doesn't have time to finish that thought.

A shrill sound cuts through his ears and he jumps out of his chair. _The Greenie alarm_? he thinks. _What the hell._.?

He races out of the room, tripping over several chairs before he gets outside. The Gladers are already standing close to the Box. He sighs and starts to run.

A couple of minutes later he arrives at the Box, puffing and panting from sprinting all the way from the council room. He makes his way through the crowd.

Alby gasps as he sees who's inside the metal lift.

"That's impossible," he mutters shocked. "It's a _girl_." He jumps into the Box, ignoring the painful shock that flashes through his knees.

The girl was sitting in a corner, but gets to her feet as Alby stands in front of her. She seems surprisingly calm.

Alby just stands there for a moment, staring at her, before he speaks.

"Who are you?" he asks. The girl rolls her dark brown eyes.

"I'm Lauren Pallido, I'm eighteen years old, I was born in the Netherlands... What else do you want to know?" "Eh... Is it safe to say that your memory isn't wiped?" Frypan asks from behind Alby.

"Yes," the girl – Lauren – responds. "It is."

All of the Gladers, including Alby, are speechless, and they stand still with their mouth wide open. Lauren sighs impatiently.

"Please, don't just stand there and look at me. We've got important things to do, haven't we? Can one of you bring me to the Homestead, to Newt?"

If possible, Alby's mouth drops open ever wider.

"How do you know about..." he begins, but Lauren cuts him off. "That's complicated. I'll explain everything later, I promise, but please bring me to Newt. We have to inject the serum." When none of the boys moves, she sighs again and starts to climb out of the Box.

As soon as she comes out, she starts to run.

**I was so excited for this chapter that I updated again today! SURPRISE! :) (Lauren is also born in NL, just like me! LOL!)**


	15. It Isn't A 'He'

Newt shifts in his bed as the Greenie alarm stops, trying to see what's going on. He sits upright and stretches his neck to look out of the narrow window.

The Gladers are crowded around the Box; he can't see it well from this far, but most of them seem confused. One person has broken away from the close circle of people. He – it certainly doesn't look like a 'he', but it has to be, because there are only boys in the Glade – is running toward the Homestead.

Newt squints to have a better look, but his purview is limited to the area right in front of the window, so he can't see the person anymore.

He lies back under the sheets, and at that moment, a door opens downstairs. Footsteps on a wooden floor. The stairs creak.

Newt winces. The sounds remind him of a scary story, a completely random memory floating in his mind.

The planks close to his door squeak. Then the door finally opens, and who comes in makes Newt's mouth drop open in surprise.

He was right when he thought the person didn't look like a 'he'.

It isn't a 'he'.

It is a girl.

When the first confusion has passed, Newt gets the chance to look at her better. _She is, actually, quite pretty_, he thinks.

She has long, dark brown hair, and eyes with the same colour. Her face is small and beautiful, and... she is staring at him exactly like he stares at her.

He is the first one to look away, though he doesn't like to do it.

"Hey," he says, trying to sound as friendly as he can. "Ehm... Do I have to know you?"

He bites his lip as a flash of sadness fills her eyes, quickly hidden with a smile.

"Hm, no, excuse me. I'm Lauren." "I'm..." Newt begins, suddenly remembering the name what was written on the note, and Lauren holds up her hand. "I know. I know each of your names. I... It's a long story." She sighs. "But I hope you all believe me when I say I'm here to help. I am the one who sent up the syringe and that stuff." Newt nods, and a puzzle piece falls into its place in his head.

"You work for WICKED. You wrote it in the letter." Lauren shakes her head. "No. I _worked_ for WICKED. They kicked me out for sending the syringe, and they wanted to send me up in here. I escaped before they could wipe my memory." "Why did you get punished? What's in the syringe?"

A billion questions float through Newt's mind, but these are the best he can grasp. Her eyes flicker to his.

"It's not what you guys think it is. The serum brings back some of your memories, everything that's important," she says.

Newt frowns. "That really would help us." "Do you know where it is?" "Probably in the Med-Jack's room."

Lauren nods. "I'll go get it. I'll be back in a minute." The two of them look at each other for another moment – a moment Newt wishes which could last forever – before she turns away.

"Lauren?" Newt asks. She spins around. "Yes?" "I really hope you are here to help us. It'd make me very happy," he says, not actually knowing why he says that. Lauren smiles comfortingly. "Of course I am here to help you. I believe that WICKED isn't good, either." Then she disappears into the narrow hallway.

Newt stays behind, hoping that she is telling the truth.


	16. Daydream

Lauren exhales dreamily as she closes the door behind her. She is smiling.

It was great to see Newt for real again, not through cameras and his voice picked up by microphones. He is beautiful, but he seems even more handsome when he is standing right in front of her. Or sitting, actually. The unexpected pain when she thinks that, snaps her back to reality.

_Time to get out of the daydream_, she tells herself. _Action, Lauren_. She sighs again and starts to jog to the Med-Jacks' room. It is a narrow chamber on the third floor. On the small desk lies a syringe. _Bingo_. Lauren lifts it and stuffs it in her pocket.

The stairsteps creak as she dashes back downstairs, but she isn't afraid to fall. She wants to get back to Newt. To give him his memories back.

Suddenly, a terrible thought flashes through her mind. What if the serum doesn't work? She shakes her head, quickly waving the sense away. It will work. She has stolen it from WICKED's doctors. It _has_ to work.

She lies her hand on the copper doorknob from Newt's room and inhales deeply.

_All right, Lauren, there we go,_ she thinks. _Time to play for Med-Jack._

She opens the door.


	17. Do It

The door opens with a cracking sound, and Lauren steps inside.

Newt is surprised about how fast she is; he has only be alone for half a minute, and Lauren hasn't even been in the Glade before. He wonders again what she has done for WICKED, and if he can trust her. But as he looks at her, all of his doubt is washed away.

Of course he can trust her. She is just a girl, not much older than he is. She can't be evil. Not in a thousand years.

A soft laugh interrupts his thoughts, and he looks up.

"What are you thinking about?" Lauren asks, smiling. Newt grins back, though it looks more like a grimace.

"Nothing. I'm just... a bit nervous," he says.

He isn't lying; he is worried about what is going to happen with him. Lauren's eyebrows bow up in sympathy and she sits down on the edge of the bed, carefully, so that she doesn't touch his broken ankle.

"There's nothing to be scared about," she says, her voice comforting and soft, like she is talking to a young child. "I'm just gonna inject the serum, and then you'll fall asleep, and your memories will come back like dreams. Nothing to be afraid of," she repeats.

Newt sighs, looking at his feet. "That's just what I'm so anxious about. What if I remember terrible things? What if I have _done_ terrible things?"

"You don't have to do it, if you don't want to," Lauren responds, her voice still gently. Newt shakes his head.

"No. I'm doing it."

At that moment, a door opens downstairs. People shout things to each other.

"Go find her," someone commands. _Alby_.

"Fast," Newt says to Lauren. "Do it."

Footsteps on the stairs. They are coming closer.

Lauren hestitates, but then she pulls the syringe out of her pocket.

The planks in front of the door squeak.

"Now!" Newt whispers. Lauren bites her lip. With firm hand, she stings the needle in Newt's upper leg, right through his jeans.

He barely feels the sharp prick.

The serum streams slowly into his veins, and he can feel his mind growing slow, his look misting. He closes his eyes.

His thoughts feel thick and sleepy, like they are floating in syrup. He is on the edge of unconsciousness as he feels someone holding his hand, and he wants to open his eyes, but his brain tumbles into a black hole and he isn't aware of anything anymore.

**Surprise, surprise! Double update!**

**Are you worried about Newt as well? The stuff in the syringe could be poison, you know... *laughs evilly***

**By the way, awesome that people are reading this! I never thought that anyone would like my story! Thanks!**


	18. Maybe, Maybe Not

Lauren is still sitting on the bed as the door smashes open. Even without looking behind her, she knows that three boys are standing in the doorway, and that they are going to yell at her.

In the long moment of stunned silence, she looks at Newt's sleeping face. He looks so young.

_He will be different after this_, Lauren thinks, not knowing whether it's good or bad. Maybe he can help everyone escape. Maybe not.

"_What have you done to him_?" someone screams. She doesn't have to look back to know it is Alby. He hurls past her and kneels next to the bed, panic flickering in his eyes.

"He isn't dead," Lauren says. The boy gives her an angry look. "Put her in the Slammer," he shouts to the two other Gladers behind her.

"But be careful. If she's strong enough to knock Newt out..." His voice trails off. "Whatever. Take her away."

Two pair of strong hands grasp Lauren's shoulders. Her hand slips out of Newt's as they pull her backwards.

She feels surprisingly calm. There is no reason to withstand the Gladers; she hasn't done anything wrong. They will realize that soon enough.

The boys drag her to the small room next to the Homestead – the Slammer. One of them opens the wooden door and lets her inside.

As the door closes behind her and the Gladers disappear, she sighs. For now, she can only sit on the wobbly chair and wait.

**I'm sooooooo sorry that this is a short one... I hope you don't mind, I didn't have much time today!**


	19. The Key

_In a second, the darkness goes away and Newt is standing in a large, white-painted area. There are narrow tables in neat rows, and children. _A classroom_, he thinks. _

_The children are younger than he is, nine, maybe ten years old. When he looks better, he recognizes them. They are the Gladers. _

_Still a bit shocked, he starts to walk between the tables; nobody seems to notice him. _

_In the back of the room are four kids. An Asian boy and a dark-skinned boy are turned around and are quietly chatting with the boys behind them – a blond-haired boy and a shorter boy with brown hair. He realizes that these children are the younger versions of Minho, Alby, Newt himself and... He doesn't remember the name of the other boy. He comes closer to the kids to listen. _

_"...I know you like her. Don't deny it," little Minho says, grinning evilly at the brown-haired boy. _

_"Who?" _

_"That girl from the other class. Teresa." _Who's Teresa?_ the older Newt thinks. The unknown boy's face turns red. _

_"I don't like her. She's stupid." Young Newt smiles and pokes him playfully. "We know you're her lover, Tommy. We all know that." _

Tommy. I have to remember that name_, the older Newt thinks. Then everything fades and another environment replaces the classroom._

_The young Newt is older now, eleven years old or so, and he is crouched next to a grey door. He presses his ear against the wall. As the older Newt comes closer, he can hear what the younger boy hears. He is listening to the people inside. _

_"Are you sure we should do this?" a woman's voice asks. A man replies. _

_"Yes. The Trials could be the key to everything." _

_"I'm not talking about the Trials," the woman snaps. "It's about the children. About Thomas. What if something goes wrong?" "Then the children are in the Maze forever," the man answers. "Too bad for them." _

_The woman sighs. "Why are you so stupid? If they don't get out of the Maze, we will never get our blueprint, idiot!" She sighs again. "We have to be careful with Thomas. He is the key." _

_The door and the voices disappear, but this time it lasts longer before the next memory comes, and Newt has time to think about what he has heard. _

_If Thomas – he had to be 'Tommy' – didn't make it to the Maze, the Gladers would be in there forever. This Thomas has to know how to escape. _

_The rest of the conversation was hard to understand. What is a blueprint? What did the woman mean when she said "if something goes wrong"? What are the Trials, and why are he and the other Gladers put in them? _

_So many questions, and only a few answers. _

_So frustrating. _

_But the darkness fades away again, and this time the memories flow over him, one by one and really quickly, like a movie in fast-forward. _

_Young Newt and the other Gladers playing outside a giant building between a forest and the sea. _

_A glass door with 'WICKED Headquarters' written on it. _

_Pillow fights in the dorm. _

_Children laughing. _

_But then the memories turn darker, and it happens suddenly enough to make Newt gasp. _

_His younger self – one or two years younger than he is now – is sitting alone in a plastic chair, next to a double door with small windows. As he stands up to peek inside, he can see the shapes of two people, lying on operation tables. Doctors in green suits are hurrying back and forth, giving creepy-looking things to each other, like scalpels and small knives. _

_The older Newt wants to keep watching, but the next memory already appears. Now he isn't standing next to the younger Newt. It's like he is captured behind his eyes, as a spectator, so that he can see everything but can't move. _

_Faces hidden behind masks float above him. He realizes that _he_ is the one lying on the operation table now. _

_"Are you sure you want to do this one too?" someone next to him asks. "Shouldn't we let him live with the other Cranks?" _

What's a Crank?_ Newt wonders. It sounds bad. _

_"No. He is the Glue. Without him, no blueprint," someone else answers. Newt recognizes the voice. It was the same woman he had eavesdropped. _

_The man next to him sighs. "All right. You're the boss. Let's start, then." _

_Something pricks in his arm, and immediately the world starts to rotate. _

_"Wipe them," someone commands, and Newt realizes that the doctor is talking about his memories. A weird mask floats above his face. His younger self closes his eyes. Something – the mask – is put on his face. _

_He feels like his head is filled with smoke. The darkness seems to gulp him down, piece by piece, but he still can hear the words before he passes out. _

_"Good luck, Newt." _

_The woman's voice comes into his ears, and it is the last thing he will ever know from his previous life. _

_The doctor's murmur disappears and there are only shadows left._

**This is an extremely long one, I just couldn't stop writing because I liked it so much! What do you think?**


	20. Creepy

"Hey. Girl."

The girl – Lauren, Ben thinks – looks up. She is sitting at the floor of the Slammer and squints against the sunlight to have a better look. An expression of recognition passes her face.

"You're Ben, right?" she asks him. Ben flinches, surprised.

"Yes. And you are creepy. How do you know my name?"

Lauren sighs. "I worked for WICKED, I had to observe you guys and I come in peace," she says with a bored voice, as if she has said it like a thousand times. After a moment of silence, she adds: "And I really hope I haven't poisoned Newt."

Her voice cracks at the last two words, and Ben knows she is telling the truth. It is certainly strange that she worked for WICKED before and now she wants to help, but his instinct tells him that he can believe her.

"Eh... Okay," he says awkwardly. "I trust you with that, you know. I believe that you really wanted to help Newt."

"Well, I'm happy that at least one of you isn't going crazy because I'm here," Lauren sighs. "What do you want, actually?"

She looks him right in the eyes, but Ben can see that she is only trying to conform to the boys, so he just raises his eyebrows and doesn't say anything about it. Somehow, he is pitying her. It has to be hard to fit in a place with only boys, or even to make people listen to you.

"I only want to talk to you," he says, his voice as calm as he can. "You said that you hoped you haven't poisoned Newt. What was the syringe supposed to do?"

But before she can answer, Ben is pushed away roughly by Clint.

"I'm sorry, Ben," he apologizes before he turns to Lauren. "You have to come with me," he says to her.

A frightened look flashes over her face, and Clint adds quickly, "It's no bad news. Actually, it's pretty good news. Newt is awake, and he wants to talk to you."

**Prepare yourself, I've got a lot to tell!**

**So my world is going pretty creepy (that's one of the reasons why I wrote this chapter like this). It's starting to look like my story, how weird is that!**

**My boyfriend has hurt his ankle ****_one day_**** after I started writing this. (He doesn't look like Newt, but that doesn't matter.) I've got a new Dutch teacher, and she looks ****_exactly_**** like I have always imagined Lauren. And now my little sister told me that she had weird dreams, as if she has already experienced it! HOW CREEPY!**

**Anyway, the first movie stills for The Scorch Trials movie have arrived! Yay! (I really got a fangirl attack the time that I saw them first, they are so awesome!)**

**About the story: I have plans to put some more romantic in it, and the lucky couple (I'm not saying it's Newt and Lauren, it's gonna be a surprise) is maybe even getting a song! It's getting cute in about six or seven chapters, so prepare yourself!**

**Okay, I want to avoid that my part is getting longer than the chapter, so I'm going to stop here! Bye!**


	21. Hope, No Disappointment

Lauren knows she will never forget the wave of happiness and relief she felt when Clint spoke out those words.

_Newt is awake. He wants to talk to you_.

He isn't dead. She hasn't poisoned him. She won't lose him again.

As soon as Clint has opened the Slammer door, she starts to run to the Homestead. She doesn't care if there are Gladers in her way or obstacles which almost make her fall; her legs keep running, as if her body wants to make sure that Newt is okay. She races upstairs. When she hurls into Newt's room, she sees him sitting there, unharmed, his face only a little pale, but as alive as possible. She flops down on the edge of the bed.

"You're... You're all right," she stutters. "Thank God, you're all right! I was so worried about you, and-"

"Lauren," Newt placates her. "Relax." Lauren exhales. Now that she has calmed down, a bunch of questions explode in her head. She doesn't hestitate for even a second to ask them.

"Did the serum work? Do you have your memories back? Do you know how to get out of here?"

Newt sighs; he seems tired, Lauren notices. When he starts to talk again, his voice is hoarse.

"I've got my memories back. Not all of them, only a few, about the time that I was at WICKED's headquarters. In one memory, the younger version of myself is eavesdropping two people who work there. They were talking about someone. His name was Thomas, and they said that he was the person who could help us escape." He coughs. "So we have to wait for him. If he doesn't come, we'll be stuck in here forever."

Lauren knows she should be disappointed, because it could last years before they will escape - if they ever can escape - but instead of that, she feels hope. There is something to hope for.

And in a sudden impulse, she walks over to Newt and hugs him.


	22. Flame

Newt has never thought there is such a great feeling as being hugged. It makes him feel warm from the inside, like a small flame burning in his chest.

He smiles and wraps his arms around Lauren almost instinctively. They just hold each other close for a moment – a wonderful, frozen moment – before Lauren releases him.

She is smiling and blushing, and Newt knows he's looking quite the same. He must look like an idiot right now.

"I should go," she says gently. "They'll probably be having a Gathering, and I've got a lot to explain."

Newt nods, but Lauren doesn't walk away immediately. They gaze into each other's eyes for a second. Then Lauren blinks, as if she has just woken up from a dream, and she turns around.

When the door closes, Newt is alone again, and this time, it hits him harder than ever before.

It feels like Lauren's presence was a part of him, and that part is gone now. He grins to himself.

_That's ridiculous, Newt,_ he thinks. _Don't think things like that._

But it is true that the small flame in his chest has been put out.

**Deeeeeeeeeep! I am quite in a poetic mood today :)**


	23. Discrimination

"All right. Go ahead. You've got a lot to explain," Alby says to Lauren, at the second Gathering of that day.

He feels tired; the occurrences of that day have been exhausting him a lot. He rubs the side of his face with his left hand before looking at the girl again.

She sighs. Her cheeks are a slight red, as if she has a fever, though Alby knows that isn't the case. Perhaps she's just nervous.

"Well, I know it's useless to lie about anything. I've told everything to Newt," she begins. "But who says you aren't lying about that?" Gally cuts her off, and Alby snaps, "Gally, shut up. We've got enough things to worry about."

"So," Lauren continues, "I worked for WICKED. They fired me because I sent up that syringe. They wanted to drop me here, but I managed to escape before they could wipe my memory. The stuff in the syringe was meant to bring some memories back, the important things. It worked on Newt. He told me that we have to wait for someone. His name is Thomas, and he'll probably know how to get out of the Maze. I just don't know when he is coming, if he is ever coming. I don't know."

She looks around the circle of Keepers. Alby exhales, though he didn't know he was holding his breath. He haws and gets to his feet. "We'll see what everyone says. Winston, what do you think?"

The Slicer's acne-covered face twists into an evil-ish smile. _He's not in a great mood_, Alby thinks.

"The doors'll close in half an hour," Winston says. "If we want to banish her, we have to do it quickly."

"I agree with Winston!" Gally yells.

Minho folds his arms. "But why would we banish her? She hasn't done anything wrong. In fact, she even may have given us a chance to escape the shucking Maze," he says.

"Yeah!" someone else screams.

The Keepers start talking over each other, all of them shouting their opinions.

Alby sits down and buries his face in his hands, ashamed. _These people are supposed to set the right example, but they act like babies_, he thinks. _How can our system work when we have these guys as our leaders_?

He gets to feet and yells as loud as he can: "Everyone, sit down and _shut your damn mouths_!" All of the Keepers immediately flop down on their chair.

"We'll vote," Alby growls. "Who votes for banishing her?"

Gally, Winston – who still has that horrible look in his eyes – and the Keeper of the Baggers, a creepy-looking kid named Emil, raise their hands.

"But why, for shuck's sake, would we banish her?" Minho asks again, now with a slight irritation in his voice.

"Yeah," Alby adds. "I was wondering that, too."

Emil nervously shoves his feet over the floor. "Well... You know... Just because she is a girl..."

Alby cuts him off roughly. "First, Emil, that's the most stupid reason I've ever heard, and second, I should throw you off the Cliff for discrimination. Girl or no girl, Lauren is a Greenie, just like we've all been. The problem is that she says she's worked for the Creators and that we don't know if she is telling the truth," he says.

Lauren coughs, and Alby looks up, surprised; he has almost forgotten that she is there as well.

"I'm sorry that I'm also saying something," she says with a shy smile, "but you can ask Newt if you don't believe me. You trust him, right?"

Alby shrugs. "We don't have a reason not to try, have we?"

And with those words, the Keepers and Alby stand up and walk toward Newt's room.


	24. Your Own Business

Newt gets jerked out of his thoughts when Alby and the Keepers hurl into his room.

"Whoa, slim it," he mumbles. "What's going on?"

"We want to talk with you about Lauren," Minho replies. "Eh... All right," Newt says, hesitating. "What do you want to know?"

Alby folds his arms. "Everything you know about her."

Newt frowns. He knows not a lot about her, and he isn't sure what information they are looking for. "Eh..." he begins. "She is a girl, she worked for WICKED, she says she's here to help us, and I believe her." He feels his voice getting stronger, and he continues. "She gave me some memories back. Useful things. In one of those memories, there was a boy, named Thomas. The Creators said he could help us get out of here."

"So she was telling the truth," Alby whispers, barely audible. "Yes. She was, probably," Newt agrees, though he has no idea of what she has said.

"You don't even know what we're talking about," Gally snaps. "Shut up and interfere with your own business!" "This is my business," Newt responds, louder than usual. He is getting annoyed now. "You guys are standing in my bloody room!"

Alby steps between the two. "Relax. Both of you. We have to decide what we're going to do now. We'll vote right here. Who thinks that Lauren shouldn't be punished?"

Five Keepers, including Minho, raise their hands. Newt sighs relieved. Lauren won't get punished. It surprises him how happy he is about that.

"What do you think, Newt?" Alby asks. Newt raises his eyebrows, confused. "Eh... I thought I couldn't vote," he says.

Alby shrugs. "I don't see a reason why not," he says.

"Well, of course I say that Lauren shouldn't be punished," Newt answers immediately. "She hasn't done anything wrong, not at all."

"All right, I end this Gathering, then," Alby says. "Get out, shanks."

Newt notices that the usual grumpiness in the boy's voice has disappeared. _Maybe he isn't in a bad mood today_, he thinks. _Should be the first time in half a year._

Alby steps into the hallway. The room is empty again now.

Newt yawns; the dull sleepiness he has been feeling since that afternoon, is getting stronger. The sleep prevails like thick fog, and he is forced to close his eyes.

The dream already starts before he is actually asleep.


	25. Goodbye

_He is in a classroom again. The area is exactly the same as the last one. There is only one big difference: this classroom is filled with girls. _

_Newt knows this is a memory, though he doesn't understand how and when he found that out. _

_He looks around. The girls are all strangers to him; all of them, except one. _

_It is a rather tall and slender girl, around the age of eleven, sitting in the front of the class. Her long, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes are too familiar to ever doubt about it; it is Lauren, for sure. _

_Newt wants to go to her, even though he knows she can't see him, but the image flickers and she is sitting in the back of the classroom now. _

_A slight change has happened; half of the girls have disappeared and are replaced by boys. They look a bit older than just, around the thirteen years old. _

_Young Newt is sitting in front of Lauren. He is ferreting in his pen box. The older Newt comes closer, curious about what is going to happen. This is an important memory, there has to happen something, isn't it? _

_The younger Newt turns around to the girl behind him. "Eh... Can I borrow a pen, please?" he asks her. His cheeks are bright red. _

_The older Newt grins. _How cute_. _

_Lauren smiles. "Sure," she whispers, so that the teacher can't hear her. She gives young Newt a green-coloured pen. He mutters "Thanks" and turns around again. _

_Older Newt can hear Lauren giggle softly before the memory fades. He realizes this must be the first time they talked, and the reality of that thought hits him right in the face. He knew Lauren. How could he not recognize her? _

_He doesn't have much time to think. A wave of shorter memories flows over him, just like the last time. _

_Young Newt and Lauren sitting next to each other in the class. _

_Holding each other's hands. _

_Making homework together. _

_Sitting outside on a bench, watching the other Gladers play soccer. _

_While the memories crash into him, he remembers also small but important facts about Lauren. _

_She was born in the Netherlands, but her father was Italian and her mother was Portuguese. Both of them are dead. Her last name is Pallido. Her favorite colour is orange. _

_Newt feels like his head is going to explode; it is going way too fast. He tries to grasp one single memory. _

_This time he is standing in a long, white corridor, which seem to be everywhere in WICKED's headquarters. Lauren and younger Newt are standing in the middle of it, facing each other, holding hands. Their faces are pale, and they look sad. _

_"Are you really going to leave?" younger Newt whispers. Lauren smiles, though it doesn't look happy at all. _

_"I'm not going away. I'm just going away from school, that's all. I'm not even leaving the building, they are going to teach me how to work here." _

_Her voice sounds comforting and soft, and the older Newt feels his mouth bow into a smile. _

_Younger Newt grips Lauren's hands even tighter. He looks up at her. _

_"We are going to meet each other," he says. "A lot." _

_Lauren grins. "Deal." _

_Older Newt's mind releases the memory, and another wave flows over him, this time even faster. He catches glimpses of young Newt and Lauren being on the beach. A lot. They build sandcastles, search beautiful shells for each other, swim in the sea, write their names in the sand, watch the sunsets. _

_Newt starts to realize that he and Lauren were unbelievably in love. It makes him sad and angry; how did WICKED dare to pull them away from each other?_

_Luckily, he doesn't have much time to be mad. The last memory flashes away, and another one takes its place. _

_Newt's younger self is sitting at a bench now, with Lauren, and they are looking at the sunset. The air is coloured in wonderful, bright colours, and for a moment Newt is too amazed to look at the two teenagers. _

_"This is my last night here, isn't it?" younger Newt asks. _

_Lauren nods sadly. "It is. They'll wake you up at exactly five o'clock in the morning to..." She sighs, not able to speak out the terrible truth. "Newt, from tomorrow, you won't remember me anymore." Her voice sounds choked, and one single tear streams down her face. _

_Newt's thumb gently brushes over her cheek, wiping the tear away. "Don't cry," he says softly. "I don't want you to cry. This may be our last night together, probably for a long time, but we'll see each other again. I promise." _

_"We are never gonna say goodbye," Lauren whispers, smiling through the new tears leaking from her eyes. _

_"Ever," Newt agrees. _

_When they kiss each other for the first time, for the last time, a whole spectrum from emotions flashes through the older Newt; he can feel what the younger boy feels. Sadness. Powerlessness. Despair. Fear. But over all of that is love, and everything that belongs to it. _

_Newt can feel that his younger self is incredibly happy at that moment. And when Lauren eventually pulls away – she is really crying now – Newt feels sadness pour into him, like poison slowly dripping into his body. _

_At the moment the sun goes down, the memory disappears and Newt is alone in the darkness._

**I know I've said it before, but I really, really like to write these memory scenes! Yeah!**


	26. Boy's Clothes

"You're free."

A voice comes into Lauren's ears, putting her out of her thoughts. Minho is standing in the doorway, his hands on the wooden frame.

"Sorry, what?" Lauren asks roughly. "You're free," the Runner repeats. "You won't get punished. You can go wherever you want."

"Eh... Okay," Lauren responds, and she stands up. The two of them just stand there for a moment, looking at each other – none of them knows something to say – before Minho turns around.

"I'll get you some clothes," he says. "You can't keep walking around in... that."

Lauren looks down at her white blouse, with WICKED spelled across the chest, and sighs.

"You're right."

After a moment of silence, she says: "Would you mind if I come with you? I mean, I don't want you to choose something ugly for me to wear..."

Minho grins. "Of course I wouldn't. I've got a fabulous sense of style, but you can come with me, if you really want to."

Lauren giggles, more because she doesn't know what else to do than that it was actually funny, and she walks toward Minho.

"Come on, then."

They walk through the Homestead, to a small room next to the council room. A large box, almost as wide as the room itself, stands in the back of the room, under a window. It is late and it's getting darker, so there isn't much light in the room, but Lauren knows that she hasn't seen yet what's in the box, not even through her cameras.

She smiles when she realizes that she hasn't seen everything from this place. Maybe WICKED doesn't know as much as they always thought.

In the meantime, Minho is standing next to the box. He lifts the top with a groan. _It must be heavy_.

Lauren comes closer to see what's in the box, and it is what she expected.

Clothes.

Boy's clothes.

She turns to Minho. "Eh... This'll be less awkward if you get out," she says, sure she is blushing.

The boy grins, and she wants to slap that awful smirk off his face. "Of course, ma'am," he says. He leaves the room with a bow.

When he closes the door, Lauren sighs. Man, she knew that that boy could be annoying, but in real life, he's even more annoying. Well, at least he's not mean to her, like Winston and Gally. How can those two hate her while they don't even know her? They wanted to feed her to the Grievers!

Lauren sighs again and bows down over the clothes.

Eventually, she chooses a dark blue lumberjack blouse and blue ripped jeans. The sleeves of the blouse are too short and the pants are too tight at her hips, but she couldn't find anything else that would not look terrible at her, so this isn't so bad.

When she pulls on her leather boots, Minho knocks on the door and opens it. "Have you made a choice?" he asks, still with that terrible smile on his face.

Lauren nods. "Yep. What do you think?" she says, trying to imitate his childish tone. She turns around.

"Eh... Well..." Minho says, probably not sure what to say. When Lauren squints at him and puts her hands on her hips, he quickly adds: "It looks amazing at you. When Frypan wore it, he looked like a clown, but you look nice. As if they were made for you. And..."

She knows he is being sarcastic, and she knows that he'll go on if she doesn't do anything, so she cuts him off.

"Oh, shut up. I know you don't mean it."

Lauren grins at him. She starts to pick up her old clothes. Minho gives her a bag – where did he get that? – and she stuffs her WICKED-blouse and grey sweatpants in it.

A loud, rumbling sound makes her jump up, but she realizes that is it only the closing doors, and she relaxes.

"You better find a place to sleep," Minho tells her. "It is getting dark soon, and if you wait too long, all the good places will be gone."

Lauren nods. "Okay. Goodnight."

"Night," the Runner replies, suddenly absently.

Lauren starts to walk toward the Gardens.

**Yep, it was fun to write this one. Minho can be so annoying, but actually he's quite cute, don't you think? :)**


	27. Trees and Life

She is going there because she knows that there is a 'secret' location where she can see almost the whole Glade. It is a narrow spot between two trees, where the twined branches make a kind of hammock, just large enough to lay your sleeping bag down. The only problem is the height.

Lauren swallows hardly while she looks at the high trees.

A couple of years ago, she was terribly afraid of heights, but Newt had helped her with that. One day, they had climbed into one of the gigantic conifers next to the Headquarters.

It had been cold that day, and their breath had floated in small clouds, in front of their faces. When they finally had reached the top of the tree, Lauren had almost fainted from fright a couple of times, but the view was incredibly beautiful. They could see the entire surrounding. After that, she had never been afraid of heights anymore, but now the old fear comes back again.

She sighs. _Do you want a great place to sleep or what?_ she asks herself, and she already knows what the answer is, so she starts to climb.

She carefully looks for holes and branches to place her feet on, and luckily, she doesn't fall. At three metres aloft she has finally reached her sleeping spot.

She lays her sleeping bag down on the twined branches. She smiles when she sees the view she hoped to see.

The Glade is even more beautiful now that Lauren is really sitting there. The cameras and microphones could never capture this; she can see the entire Glade, twilit, with the red lights of the beetle blades scattered over the whole place. When she closes her eyes, she can smell the pleasant smells of the Gardens, ground and grass and... _life._ It never smelled like _life_ in the Headquarters. It always smelled like chemicals and cleaning products. Lauren had always hated that smell, though, for her, it meant the smell of safety.

She sighs again. A big part of her is happy that she is away from there. She hates everything and everyone in the Headquarters more than anything. Every morning when she woke up there, she looked around, looking for Newt, only to find out that he wasn't there. She didn't have any friends there anymore, except for Michael and some other colleagues, maybe.

But the rest of her is anxious about what is going to happen. WICKED has not put her in the Maze to make her happy. They will make something terrible happen to her, or to Newt, or to someone else.

She has to be careful.

Everything is going to change.


	28. Could Be Worse

"Hey! What are you _doing_?" someone yells.

Lauren almost falls out of the tree when the voice wakes her up roughly. She can grasp the trunk just in time.

When she looks down, she sees a boy staring upwards. She thinks his name is Zart, the Keeper of the Track-Hoes. He seems startled.

"Well, I _was_ sleeping," she replies.

"Get out of the tree!" Zart shouts back. "Alby sent me to search you. You have to find a job, so you're working with the Track-Hoes today."

The reality of that sentence snaps Lauren out of her sleep. She hadn't realized yet that she is actually going to _live_ here. She is a Greenie now. That thought fills her with excitement and fear at the same time, but she puts it away.

"Okay," she says to Zart. "I'm coming down. Eh... Can you wait for me?" she asks, when she realizes that it is going to last a while to get out of the tree again.

Zart grins – a strange-looking grimace that shows half of his teeth. "Just meet me here again in half an hour," he says. "You got to have breakfast first."

Then he just walks away, and Lauren stays behind, her eyebrows raised. After a moment, she shrugs and starts to climb down.

By the time she's got her feet back on the ground, her hands are full of scratches and blood, but she doesn't care about it. She picks her bag up from the grass and starts to walk toward the kitchen.

Left and right, Gladers are going to work; Lauren has woken up pretty late, she notices. She quickly snatches a sandwich with cheese out of the kitchen, which she eats while walking back to the Gardens. It has taken so long to get out of the tree that she has only a couple of minutes left to go back.

Zart is already standing next to the tree. He looks extremely bored, but Lauren thinks that is just his usual face. When he sees Lauren, he waves that she has to follow him. He shows her where the pavilion with the garden stuff is, and after curtly telling her what to do – first watering the tomato slips and then sow some new carrots – the Keeper of the Track-Hoes goes away.

Lauren walks toward the pavilion to get a watering can. While she waters the tomatoes, she looks around in the Gardens.

It looks even better than last night. Now she can see the bright colours that seem to be everywhere: the green from the grass and the leaves, the red from the tomatoes, the orange from the paprikas, the purple from the aubergines... She couldn't see those colours in the darkness.

When she looks down, she sees that she has poured almost all of the water over the tomato plants. _They've probably had enough_.

Lauren hides the watering can behind her back, blushing and hoping that she hasn't drenched the small slips. She immediately knows that she isn't made for this job; she daydreams way too much. If she keeps watering the plants like this, she has drowned the whole Garden in no time.

She puts the watering can away and starts to sow the new carrots. It is a terribly boring job – the only thing she has to do is making small holes in the ground, put some seed in it, and bury it again. Over and over and over.

By the time she sits down on one of the picnic tables while lunch time, it feels like her back is made of rusty hinges. Lauren moans. She can't do this everyday. It is easy to decide that she is never ever going to belong to the Track-Hoes.

Exactly at that moment, Zart sits down on the same table. Lauren clears her throat.

"Eh, Zart... I don't think I want to be one of the Track-Hoes," she says, carefully, but honestly.

The Keeper shrugs. "That's your choice. But you still have to work with us today."

Lauren sighs. She had expected that, but it is still difficult to process that she has to do boring tasks for the rest of the day. Well, it could be worse. At least she doesn't have to clean the toilets or so.

She quickly eats her lunch – toast with peanut butter and jam – and goes to work again. Luckily, she doesn't have to water the plants or sow something anymore. She just helps where she can, and her tasks range from weed out weeds to harvest potatoes.

The doors have already closed by the time Lauren is done working. She is extremely tired, but she doesn't want to go to sleep yet.

She walks toward the Homestead.


	29. I Remember

Newt is scribbling in the notebook as the door opens. He looks up curiously. He has been alone for the whole day, and has killed time by writing sentences down which just pop up into his head. It is about Lauren, about the places they've been, about what they've done together. About how – he can feel it right now – he has missed her since then.

When Lauren steps into the room, he feels his heart jump up. He quickly closes the notebook and puts it away.

"Hey," Newt says, smiling. He immediately finds out that it is impossible to look as happy as he feels.

"Hey," Lauren replies. Newt can see the sadness that flashes over her face again, and he can't have it anymore.

"Lauren... There's something I want to tell you," he says carefully. Lauren frowns, but she doesn't respond.

"I... I had those memory dreams again this night." He pauses, wondering how he can tell this the best way. "I remembered... you and me. At WICKED's Headquarters. We were... in love."

He doesn't dare to look into her eyes, scared about how she will react.

"I think... I think I'm in love with you. Again."

For a moment, it is completely silent. Newt carefully looks up. Lauren's eyes are filled with tears.

At the moment that one of them rolls over her cheek, she smiles. Newt hasn't seen that kind of smile a lot, but he knows that it is a smile of pure happiness. She pulls him into a hug, and she starts to sob and laugh at the same time.

"I... I thought... you would never... remember me again," she sobs. "I'm in love with you, too, Newt. I love you more than anyone on the world."

"Same," Newt whispers gently. It is one of the most true things he has ever said.

He wraps his arms around her, slowly rubbing her back. They sit like that for a couple of minutes, before Lauren sits upright. Her face is red and wet from the tears, but she is still stunningly beautiful. She wipes the tears away from her cheeks.

"God, I must look terrible right now," she says with a embarrassed giggle.

Newt shakes his head. "No. You don't. You still look amazing." He cups her face in his hands, carefully wiping away the tears with his thumbs.

Lauren blushes and closes her eyes. "What do you remember?" she asks out of the blue, her voice not more than a soft whisper.

Newt thinks a moment before he answers the question. "I remember the first time we met, in the classroom. I didn't have a pen, and you lent me one. We did many things together after that. I don't know exactly what we did, that part wasn't clear."

He can see the memories really well now, as if he is looking through a clean glass window, and he keeps talking.

"And... when you went away from school. I promised you that we were going to meet each other a lot, and we did. Especially at the beach."

Lauren smiles; she probably remembers the same things as Newt does. He closes his eyes for a second before he continues.

"And my last night before the Maze. That's when we first kissed. Isn't it?"

Lauren opens her eyes. "It is. Do you remember what we said to each other?"

"We were never gonna say goodbye," Newt responds. "And we didn't. We came together again."

Lauren nods.

"But what happened in the meantime?" he asks her. He can't believe he hasn't asked her about her past before. She sighs.

"Not much. I've worked for WICKED, mainly, have helped observing you..." Her tone is surprisingly bitter. Her voice trails off.

A question pops up into Newt's head, and before he can stop it, he has already asked it.

"Do you know _why_ we are here? In the Maze, I mean."

Lauren's eyes flash to a spot on the ceiling, but then she replies.

"Yes. I do. It's quite a shocking story."

Newt shifts in his bed.

"Just tell me. Please. I want to know."


	30. The Flare and Beetle Blades

Lauren's hands fidget on the blanket.

"A couple of years ago, a virus broke out. I think it was in Russia, but that doesn't matter. The virus – it's called the Flare, by the way – spreaded over the whole world, infecting people. If you catch it, you slowly go crazy, until you're so far past the Gone that you become a cannibal."

Newt doesn't even ask what the 'Gone' is; it's all so immersive and disgusting, and he doesn't want to interrupt Lauren.

"There's no cure for the Flare. If you're infected with it, there's no way back. That's why you are in here. WICKED wants to observe your brain patterns by putting you in various situations, so that they can build a 'blueprint' for the cure."

Suddenly, it all fits. The WICKED people were all talking about a 'blueprint'. That's why the memories were so important, besides that part about Thomas.

Lauren glances at the ceiling again. "Now they are really going to kill me," she mutters, interrupting Newt's thoughts.

"Huh? What?"

But Lauren doesn't respond. She takes a shovel out of her bag – did she bring it along from the Gardens? – and slowly walks toward the corner of the room, on Newt's right.

He watches her while she lifts the shovel and hits something at the ceiling. A beetle blade falls down on the floor. Its red light is flickering in fury and the small knives above the legs are thrusted out. Newt has never seen an angry beetle blade before; most of the Gladers stay away from them. So does he.

Lauren lifts her shovel again and smashes it down on the small creature. The red light flickers once again, but then stays off.

"Whoa," Newt whispers. "How did you know that thing was sitting there?"

"That one was mine once," Lauren replies. "Someone has taken my place and was spying us. I'm sure they'll make something bad happen to me. You're not supposed to know anything of the outside world. I've probably ruined the whole experiment."

She grins, but there's no joy in it. Newt doesn't really know how to react. Lauren has just told him that an evil organisation is probably going to kill her, but she doesn't seem upset about it, so does he have to comfort her or not?

Luckily, she doesn't give him the chance to do anything. She stuffs her shovel in her bag again and turns around.

"I should go now, before I get anyone even more in trouble," she says, with one last glance on the crushed beetle blade.

"No," Newt says. Lauren looks up. "What?"

She is radiating independence; Newt nearly can't believe that this is the same girl who was crying on his shoulder just a couple of minutes ago.

"No," he repeats. "I don't want you to leave. The room next to this one is free. You can sleep there, if you want."

He doesn't want her to go too far away. He is scared of the sense he feels when she isn't close to him, like a belt pulled too tight around his chest.

"Okay. I'll sleep there, then." Lauren's 'powergirl' mask falls off and she is her usual, comforting self again. She walks toward the door.

"Night, Newt."

"Good night," he responds.

The door closes and the room is suddenly darker. Newt can feels his eyelids falling shut.

He lies down on his side and falls asleep.


	31. Fairytale

"Shall we go outside?" Newt asks.

It is just after lunch time, and Lauren is working with the Med-Jacks today. Which means that she has to help taking care of Newt, for there are no other 'patients'. She doesn't care about it; it's great to just talk to him about small things that actually don't matter.

"Outside?" she asks. She looks out of the window. The weather is beautiful – of course it never rains in the Glade, but the fake-sun seems to be brighter today and it feels warmer.

"Yes. Outside. You know, that place that's not inside... Where I haven't been for four days..."

He looks at her with those begging, brown puppy-eyes, and Lauren replies carefully, "How do you want to get outside? You can't walk, Newt."

He smiles. It is a frolic grin, and Lauren can already guess what he is going to say.

"Then help me walk."

A couple of minutes later, both Newt and Lauren are standing. Lauren has drawn Newt's right arm over her shoulders, so that he can lean on her and on his good leg. It makes her a little nervous. Until yesterday, she had never thought that he would ever be so close to her.

"Okay," she says, wrapping her arm gently around his waist. "Ready to walk?"

"Yep," he responds. They carefully start to make small steps; it is easier than Lauren thought. It doesn't take long for them to get outside of the room, but the stairs are a new problem.

Lauren holds still, but Newt takes another step, and he almost trips over a loose plank. Lauren can keep him from falling down the stairs just in time.

"That was close," she puffs. Newt smiles at her. "I'm not made of paper, you know," he says. "I don't tear easily."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Lauren asks, surprised.

"Never mind. Let's keep going," he responds. They carefully walk down the stairs, and, eventually, step into the sunlight.

Newt closes his eyes and turns his face to the origin of the bright light. He is smiling. Lauren realizes how much he likes being outside; it must have been a torture for him to be forced to stay inside.

The two of them sit down in the grass, their back against the wall of the Homestead. Newt is letting his head rest on the wooden planks as well.

Without looking at Lauren, he asks her: "Can you tell me a story?" Lauren raises her eyebrows, surprised. This is not one of her best parts; she has never been very well at telling stories or something close to that. She coughs.

"Eh..." She digs in her brain for something to tell. She chooses a fairytale she doesn't entirely remember, but what she has been listening to since she was a little girl.

"Once upon a time, there was a princess. She was the most beautiful girl in the whole world, she had the most perfect voice, she was loved by everyone she knew, but she was cursed."

Lauren puts a curl of her hair behind her ear. "When she would turn seventeen years old, she would prick her finger at a spinning wheel, and she would die. Luckily, there was a good fairy. She couldn't totally remove the curse, but the princess wouldn't die after pricking her finger. She only would sleep for a hundred years. And it happened; when the princess turned seventeen years old, she pricked her finger at the spinning wheel, and she fell asleep. The rest of the people in the palace fell asleep as well.

Fifty years later, there was a prince, from another kingdom, and he discovered the palace, which was covered in stinging roses by that time. But the prince wasn't afraid of the plants, and he made his way into the palace with his sword. He found the princess, still lying on the floor, next to the spinning wheel. He fell in love with her immediately. He kissed her, and her curse was removed; she woke up, even though her hundred years of sleep weren't over yet."

Lauren remembers how she had loved this part of the story when she was little. Her father had always told her that tale. Tears pop into her eyes by the thought of her dad, but she blinks them away.

"The prince and the princess married that day, and the whole kingdom celebrated with them. They lived happily ever after."

Lauren ends the story with a voice choked by tears. Suddenly, she doesn't feel happy at all anymore.

Her parents died because of the same reason that WICKED exists. _The Flare_. She was ten years old when her parents were taken away to a place called the Scorch. She remembers how she had cried and screamed that she didn't want them to leave, and how her mother had whispered that it would be for the best.

WICKED has taken everything away from her. Her parents, her home, even her memories if she hadn't escaped in time. She looks at Newt sideways. At least has WICKED brought her to him again.

Newt is looking at the sky, his eyebrows frowned. After a moment, he turns to Lauren.

"That fairytale was full of klunk," he says, but Lauren can't hear the blaming tone that should be there.

"_Excuse me_?" she asks shocked. How does he _dare_?

Newt holds up his hands in a apologising gesture.

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that," he says softly. "In the beginning, you said that the princess was the most beautiful girl in the world. I just don't agree with that. Only one girl can be the most beautiful one, and that are _you_."

Despite the offence she felt just a moment ago, Lauren smiles flattered. The clumsy choice of words makes the remark actually even more adorable.

"That's sweet, Newt," she responds. "You just scared me a little, because it seemed like you insulted a story my parents always told me."

She feels her voice crack at 'parents', and Newt wraps one arm around her.

"At least you're not the only one," he says, his voice not more than a whisper. Lauren nods. None of the Gladers has parents anymore; if there is one thing she learned at WICKED, it's that.

A silence follows, but it's not an awkward silence. Lauren likes to be so close to Newt, his arm around her, in the sun. She enjoys every single second.

But the silence gets broken by loud screams, followed by clicking and whirring sounds.

Lauren sucks in her breath.

This is it.

This is WICKED's way to punish her.


	32. For Me

Newt looks up as he feels Lauren freeze next to him. She is staring at something, her face really pale, and when he follows her look, his mouth drops open in surprise and fear.

Three Grievers roll out of the East door.

_Three_ of them. They are still far away, but they are coming closer every second. Several Gladers are jumping out of their way.

Lauren whispers something unaudible. "What?" Newt asks her. "They are coming for me," she answers quietly. Suddenly, she seems to wake up out of her trance. "We have to go." She jumps up, pulls Newt's right arm quickly over her shoulders and drags him into the Homestead.

It takes only a couple of seconds to get inside a room, though Newt hits his toes twice to the doorstep and almost falls. Lauren sets him down in a chair, in an empty room next to the door. She squats in front of him.

"Okay, Newt, listen," she hisses. "We don't have much time. Those things are coming for me. WICKED probably sent them to kill me, because they're still mad about what I've done. I have to hide somewhere else. It's too dangerous, if the Grievers find me together with you, they'll kill you, too. Stay here." She bites her lower lip. "I hope this is no goodbye."

She presses a kiss on his forehead. Before Newt can say or do anything, she's already gone. He can hear her footsteps on the floor.

Then it is silent, but Newt can still hear the words she said.

_I hope this is no goodbye._

He hopes that as well, and his heart aches from it.


	33. Punishment

Lauren's feet thump on the hard ground when she runs into the forest. The clicking sound behind her seems to get louder every second.

_Faster_.

A claw snatches for her ankles, making her jump sideways. She takes a sudden turn and starts to climb into the highest tree she can see. She crouchs on a large brench, quite high in the tree, next to the trunk, and hopes that the Griever – or are there more than one following her? – won't see her.

The bushes below her shake. Lauren rolls herself up to a ball, waiting for the Griever to find her. She waits for a minute.

Two minutes.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Nothing is happening. The Griever sounds have also stopped. Lauren climbs higher into the tree, carefully and trying not to look down, until she has reached the top.

Luckily, there are enough leaves to hide her, but she can see the whole Glade now. The view almost makes her smile.

_The Grievers have left. _

The Gladers are quite unharmed; most of them look a little banged up, but Lauren can't see any unconcious or dead boys.

She just starts to feel relieved when she sees the Homestead. There is a huge hole in one of the walls. Lauren feels her heart skip a beat. She realizes three things at the same time.

One: the hole was made by a Griever.

Two: Newt was the only one who couldn't flee.

And three: the Grievers weren't looking for _her_.

She climbs out of the tree as fast as she can. When her feet touch the ground, she is already running. Her heart is beating like crazy and her cheeks are wet from the tears.

As soon as she can take a closer look at the Homestead, her supposition is confirmed.

WICKED didn't want to punish her with her own death.

WICKED wanted to punish her with Newt's death.

**BANG. That's what I call danger.**

**I'm a terrible person, aren't I?**


	34. Nothing

Lauren doesn't even remember how she exactly arrived at the Homestead. She only remembers that she dashed through the gigantic gap in the wall and that Newt wasn't there.

There is not even one sign that he has ever been there. No blood, no bones, no dead body. Nothing.

It takes a second before Lauren realizes what must have happened. _The Grievers have taken him away_.

That thought gives her the slightest bit of hope; maybe he's still alive. Maybe they can save him, if they are in time. But when she looks around in the cirkel of Gladers which have crowded in the small room, she sees the hopeless features on their faces, and she realizes that not many of them will help her. They all think Newt is already dead, but _she_ won't give up this easily. Lauren only believes something if she has seen it with her very own eyes.

The stunned silence in the chamber seems to suddenly fade out, and an anxious murmur rises up.

"What happened?"

"I saw a Griever go in. He got Newt, I guess."

"We have to look for him!"

"Are you _crazy_? The doors will close in four hours. That's not enough time. Besides, he's already dead anyway."

The boys all talk over each other, and the sound is so loud that Lauren wants to put her hands over her ears. There are only a few Gladers who don't join the noisy conversations. They are leaning against the wall, and they are looking at the crowd, just like Lauren.

When she comes closer, she sees that the small group consists of Minho, Ben, Frypan and two other boys whose names Lauren doesn't remember.

Minho walks over to her. His face looks pale, she notices. He must be worried as well.

"Hey," he says, his voice not more than a sigh. Lauren doesn't give him the chance to go on.

"We have to go search Newt," she says, loud enough to come over the murmur of the Gladers. "I can't have it anymore to don't do anything."

"Do you think I didn't have that idea myself?" Minho says. "It's no use. He's dead. No one has ever survived being kidnapped by a Griever."

But Lauren can see a glimpse of hope in his eyes, and she continues.

"Don't tell me you believe even a word of what you're saying. I know you won't stay here. You will also start looking for him at one point. But I'm leaving _right now_, and if you want to come with me, than you should hurry up."

And with those words, she turns around and starts to walk toward the East door, with firm steps.

When she is almost there, she hears Minho's voice behind her: "He went through another one, slinthead."


	35. Search, Find, Save

Minho puts his hands on his hips.

What was she thinking? Just running into the Maze, the wrong way, alone, without weapons and a dozen Grievers waiting for her?

Minho almost wants to slap her right in the face for being so stupid, but he holds back. Instead of that, he grins and gestures to the small group behind him.

"Will this be enough people to help you search?" he asks Lauren.

She nods and smiles thankfully. "Yes. It is. Thank you."

"Then we need to make some preparations," Minho says. "We're gonna need weapons and that kind of stuff, believe me."

Lauren nods, her cheeks reddening. _She must have realized that she was doing something wrong_, Minho thinks with a small smile.

He turns on his heels and starts to walk, straight to the weapons room. Frypan, Ben, Josiah, Gus and Lauren follow him. They are all silent, and Minho knows they are because they know that they are going to risk their lives for someone who might be dead. Minho can feel the doubt as well; what if their friend doesn't live anymore?

But he can also feel hope, and it is growing with every step as he walks toward the weapons room. He pulls the key out of his pocket and opens the door. He and the little 'rescue team' walk in.

Minho sees Lauren look around with her mouth opened, and he grins. He knows he must have looked quite the same when he came here for the first time. It was really strange to walk into a room and see that all of the shelfs were filled with weapons, though he was sure that he was the first one to go in there.

Minho gets pulled out of his thoughts when he sees Lauren grab a gigantic sword, almost as long as his whole arm. He runs toward her.

"Whoa, wait a minute," he shouts. Lauren looks up, surprised. "What?"

"Put that thing down," Minho says, less loud now. "You are not going to use that sword. It's too dangerous. I don't want you to chop us all in pieces before we even know it."

"But I know how to use it!" Lauren shouts out.

Minho takes a surprised step backwards. "You do?"

"Yes. My father teached me how to use a sword like this." Sadness flashes through her eyes.

"Okay, okay, okay," Minho says, his hands in front of him. "You know what? Put that one on your belt and choose another, smaller one. You can use the big sword when it gets really hopeless."

Lauren smiles. She seems satisfied with this solution. "Deal."

She walks away, to a shelf with smaller knives.

Minho shakes his head, grinning, and picks up a long machete that has fallen on the ground. He quickly ties it on his back and looks around in the room.

The others have chosen their weapons as well; mostly knives, Minho notices. Only Josiah is carrying a bow and arrow.

"All right," Minho shouts, though he actually doesn't need to speak louder. "I'm not going to do complicated. Search Newt, find him, save him."

Without saying any more words, the group runs toward the North door.

From now on, there is no going back.

**Double update, because it was my birthday yesterday and because I've scared you all so much... **


	36. Just Hurry

Lauren sighs as they stop for the sixth time since they have left the Glade. One and a half hour have passed since then, and she feels like it is going way too slow. _If Newt is still alive_... There is no right way to finish that thought. They just have to hurry.

As soon as she has caught her breath, she puts her hands on her hips.

"This isn't going fast enough," she says, trying to make her worry sound in her voice. "Why don't we just split up? We have found Newt a lot faster then."

"We don't split up because... I am the only one knowing the way here," Minho pants, his hands on his knees. "You'll all get lost if we split up. I don't want five Gladers dead, maybe even six if you count Newt."

Lauren feels a small flicker of fear in her chest at that last remark. She runs a hand through her hair, which is sticky of sweat, and sighs.

"You're so annoying when you're right."

Minho grins, but it is a nervous grin. _He feels exactly the same way as I do_, Lauren thinks.

"Okay, let's keep going," the Runner shouts. "We've got about an hour before the doors will close. We'll go to the outer ring and then we go back to the Glade."

He starts to run, doesn't even look back to check if the others are following him. But they follow him, and soon they reach a point where the corridors become wider. _The outer ring_.

The group keeps running. Suddenly, Lauren sees a metal square on the ground, about fifty centimetres in length, and she stops.

"Hey, Minho!" she yells. "What's this?"

The Runner stops and turns around, and so does the rest of the group. Minho frowns.

"I don't know," he admits. "I've never seen this before. Weird."

Lauren sees the iron knob on the side of the square.

"I think it's a shutter," she mumbles. She looks up. "Shall we open it?"

Ben steps back. "Maybe we shouldn't," he says carefully. "My experience with unknown things is that you should _let_ them be unknown."

"That's typically something a Builder would say," Frypan mutters, and with that, the boys start to wrangle with each other. Minho looks at Lauren, shaking his head and sighing.

"_Shut up!_" he suddenly yells, and he steps forward. "If you're scared, then _leave_. Go ahead." He folds his arms. His face is reddened from anger.

The other boys look down, embarrassed, but they all stay.

"We are going to open this shuck shutter, and I don't want _any_ of you to scream for your mommy, whatever is inside," Minho continues, still with that frightening tone in his voice. "Help me, Lauren."

She walks over to him. They both grip the long handle and pull.

The shutter is heavier than Lauren had thought, but it is opening. Minho growls next to her.

With one last, squeaking sound, the shutter falls open.


	37. Leave

Lauren instinctively squeezes her eyes shut and puts her hands in front of her to protect herself from whatever is behind the shutter. After ten seconds, nothing has happened, and she carefully opens her eyes.

The first thing she sees is the long, grey-painted stairs that must have been behind the shutters.

The second thing is that the Gladers are all staring at her.

She lowers her arms and coughs. "What?" she asks innocently.

Before any of the boys can respond, Minho says: "I'm going downstairs. Follow me."

"Shouldn't we go back to the Glade?" one of the boys – he had told Lauren his name was Gus – asks.

Minho squints at him, and Gus flinches.

"If you want to go back," Minho hisses dangerously, "then I think you _should_ go back. I'm not coming with you."

"So am I," Lauren adds. "Me neither," Frypan says. Josiah just nods.

Minho folds his arms. "So... I guess only you two will have to go back," he says.

Ben and Gus look at each other, as if they are discussing only with their eyes, and eventually, they nod.

"Okay. See you in the Glade, _if_ you make it," Gus says with a mocking tone in his voice. Minho doesn't react; he just stands there, his feet firmly on the ground, waiting for the two Gladers to leave.

With one last glance at the others, Gus and Ben turn around and start to jog away. Lauren looks at them until they take a turn and get out of her sight.

Minho turns around, so that he is facing the stairs.

"Let's go," he says. "I'll go first."

The dangerous tone hasn't totally disappeared from his voice; it gives Lauren goose bumps. He starts to walk down the stairs. Lauren follows him, and Frypan and Josiah follow her.

Their footsteps echo behind the walls. _Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump_. It keeps going like that for what feels like forever.

Lauren has lost all her sense of time; how long have they been going downstairs? Half an hour? Three hours? Ten minutes?

Lauren is jerked out of her thoughts when she suddenly hears Minho gasp.

He hurls down, and without thinking, Lauren follows him.


	38. I Think So

_Where am I?_

The black darkness seems to go away for a second, and Newt tries to open his eyes.

He doesn't succeed.

His back aches, and his head feels like someone is smashing a rock on it, over and over and over.

The darkness seems to swallow him whole, and suddenly, he doesn't feel anything anymore.

He doesn't know how long he has been unconscious, but after a while, he hears someone calling his name. A girl.

"Newt. Newt. _Please_, Newt, wake up!"

The despair in her voice is almost touchable. It seems to give him the strength that he needs to open his eyes. Millimetre by millimetre, his vision grows, until he can see her.

_Lauren. _

She is kneeled beside him, tears rolling over her cheeks, holding his hand. When he looks into her eyes, she starts to sob.

"You... You're alive," she whispers.

"I think so," Newt responds quietly. His throat is dry; he can feel his voice crack on those three simple words. He tries to look around, even though moving sends terrible flashes of pain through his head.

He is lying in a narrow, grey-coloured corridor, on stairs. His head is a couple of stairsteps higher than his feet, and suddenly he understands why his back hurts so much. He must have lied there for more than an hour.

There are three other Gladers with Lauren – Minho, Frypan and Josiah. _His friends_. They are all sitting on their knees, their faces pale and worried.

Newt puts his elbows under himself, so that he is sitting upright. Kind of.

"What... What happened?" he asks, his voice still hoarse.

Minho shifts on his spot. "Griever attack. They broke into the Homestead and must have taken you with them. I think they have dropped you here. The other Gladers thought you were dead."

He tells it with such a concise tone that Newt starts to wonder if he even cares about this whole situation at all.

His thoughts get interrupted by a loud _bang_, about ten metres above him or so. Minho gets to his feet and runs a couple of stairsteps upstairs.

"The shutter has closed," he says, a worried look on his face. _Shutter?_ Newt thinks, but he doesn't say anything.

A few clicking sounds follow, downstairs this time. The Gladers carefully turn their heads. They all have recognized the sound, and so has Newt.

About thirty stairsteps below them, four people are standing.

They are carrying weapons, gigantic guns, and they are pointing at the Gladers.

**Sooooooooo, Newt is still alive! But for how long?**

**(I'm sorry I keep scaring you. But stories are stories, and what story doesn't have a little danger in it?)**

**Bye, and (maybe a little late) happy Easter!**


	39. Below

As soon as Minho has spotted the newcomers, he grips his machete tightly.

He wants to say something threatening to the people, but one of them is earlier.

"What are you doing here?" one of them says. He has a deep, raspy voice.

"Let's answer that question with a question. What are _you_ doing here?" Minho asks him, trying to sound calmer than he is. Nobody can be calm with an enormous gun pointing at him.

"We work here," the man on the left says. "We are the guards that have to make sure you don't escape through this way."

The long woman next to him hits him on the back of the head.

"Shut up," she hisses.

Then she straightens her back, looks at the Gladers and says: "Anyway, you shouldn't be here. We can't risk that you're going back and tell others about this, so we're gonna have to put you to death."

Her voice is terribly calm, as if she tells teenagers that they are going to die every day, and Minho grips the handle of his weapon even tighter.

"I don't think so," he growls.

The first guard puts his finger on the trigger, looking at his weapon. A mocking smile is lying on his mouth. Minho wants to rip it off his face.

"If you think you can stop us," the guard says quietly, finally looking Minho in the eyes, "then I think you really should try."

And with those words, he raises his gun and fires at Minho.

He ducks away and hears the bullet crash into the wall, but it seems like it's below him and not above him. He jumps up again and throws his long knife at the guard. The machete hits the man perfectly in the chest and he falls backwards, down the stairs.

The three other guards stand there for a moment, probably shocked about what happened to their colleague, before they start shooting as well. The deafening sound of bullets being fired off fills the narrow hallway.

Minho closes his eyes and waits for the end, but he is still alive after a couple of seconds, and when he carefully looks down, he almost smiles of relief. The guards are standing too far below them; the bullets all crash into the stairsteps, but they can't hit the Gladers.

After ten seconds or so, the guards notice that as well. They toss their gun to the side and start running toward the Gladers.

Minho wants to draw his knife, but then he realizes that he has just thrown it at the guard. At that same moment, he remembers that Lauren has _two_ weapons.

"Lauren!" he yells. "Give me your knife!"

She throws the shorter blade to him. He catches it, just in time to defend himself against the guard who is attacking him.

It is the long woman, the one who has said that the five Gladers have to die. Minho slashes his knife into her shoulder. Only her face twists from pain for a moment. She doesn't make any sound.

He jerks the blade free. This time, he aims at her stomach, but he misses and stumbles forward. The knife almost slips out of his hand.

_Shuck_.

The woman brings her right arm backwards.

_Shuck again_.

Something hard – probably her fist, Minho thinks – slams into the side of his head. He yells out of pain and presses his hand on his ear. Black spots stain his vision, but he stays upright.

At the moment that the woman wants to hit him again, an arrow stabs through her head. She falls backwards with a scream.

Minho turns his head and sees Josiah standing there, his bow still vibrating from the shot. The two boys nod at each other.

Also without words, Minho knows they understand each other.

"_Thank you_."

"_You're welcome_."

Then a shot and a terrible scream split the air, followed by Newt yelling: "_Lauren!_"

Minho doesn't know what he expected, but when he turns his head to look, his body seems to fill itself with horror.

Without thinking, he throws his knife.


	40. Branded

"_Lauren!_" Newt screams again, tears popping up into his eyes.

He is still lying on the stairsteps, unable to get away. A blade – Minho's blade – flies over his head and hits the guard who is standing right in front of him, but he doesn't pay any attention to it.

All he can see is Lauren, who is sitting on hands and knees, next to him. The front of her blue blouse is dark with blood.

The moment when she got injured, seems to be branded on his eyes. He knows he will never forget that moment.

How the guard suddenly emerged in front of them, his gun in his hands.

How he pointed at Newt.

The agony he felt.

How Lauren threw herself in front of him, exactly at the moment that the weapon got fired.

The terrible thump when the bullet entered her body.

He turns to the three boys behind him, who seem to be petrified from shock.

"_Don't stand there like that!_" he screams to them, his voice choked by tears. "_Do something!_"

He grips hold of Lauren's hand. "Lauren, _please,_ don't die," he sobs quietly.

She gasps for air once, and again, before she whispers, "I'll... be all... right. Just... get away from here."

Newt wishes that he could walk, that he could do something, but he can't, and it's ripping him apart from the inside.

"_Do something!_" he yells at the Gladers again. At that moment, loud footsteps sound behind them. They are still far away, but Newt knows what it means; there are new guards coming. They have to flee.

Minho, Josiah and Frypan seem to have noticed that as well, and they step forward quickly. Without saying any words, Minho and Josiah lift Lauren from the ground. She manages to moan quietly, but she doesn't make any more sound. Frypan helps Newt up. Carefully but fast, they start to walk upstairs.

The footsteps below them seem to grow louder every second, but the guards haven't reached them yet when the Gladers reach the shutter.

Josiah and Minho lay Lauren down on a stairstep – Newt almost wants to yell that they have to be more careful, but he holds back – and they start to push the metal shutter open. It is going way too slow, and Newt can see the new guards – he counts fifteen of them – by the time they can get out.

Minho and Josiah lift Lauren again, and this time, they start to run. Frypan sprints after them, forcing Newt to do the same.

It isn't easy to run if you can use just one leg, but Newt can only think about Lauren.

Is she going to make it to the Glade? And, if so, can the Med-Jacks save her?

He can't remember that he has ever been so worried about someone; it almost seems like he can feel the pain she feels. And if she dies, it'll be _his_ fault.

She came back to save _him_. She caught that bullet to protect _him_.

The guilt seems to take over his mind, and terrible thought crashes into him.

_I can't live if she dies_.

Newt almost trips from disgust about himself. Where did _that_ come from?

That must have been a piece of the old Newt, the one who thought about killing himself and abandon his friends for his own sake. He thinks back at what he had said to himself.

_I'll be there for her_.

The thought is so strong that he almost starts to feel better.

Almost.

Because when he sees Lauren, her limp body in the hands of two of his friends, the horrible feeling from only seconds ago comes back, but for now, he puts it away, as well as he can.

For now, they have to get back to the Glade and don't get caught by the guards that are following them.


	41. Summer Paradise

**I am warning you: this is going to be a heavy chapter. Prepare.**

Newt wakes up sitting upright and covered in sweat. He has had that same dream again, the memory-dream about he and Lauren at WICKED's Headquarters. The dream that he has been having for the last three days.

Suddenly, he remembers the things that happened the day before, and he immediately wishes that he had stayed asleep. It is all just so horrible that it seems like his life is a nightmare.

He can't remember how they actually got back to the Glade. It was a mess of high walls and shouting people and tiredness and, above all of that, the worry that seemed to engorge him from the inside.

He feels that same anxiety at that moment, and he can't have it anymore.

He has to go to Lauren.

Broken ankle or not.

He frees himself from the sheets, that are holding him like a strait-jacket, and puts his feet on the ground. The splintering floor pricks into his bare feet.

He slowly pushes himself off the bed, trying not to lean too much on his bad leg, and takes a careful first step. A shiver of pain flashes through his right leg, but it doesn't hurt much, and Newt takes another step. And another one.

He steps into the hallway not a long time after that, but as soon as he is standing there, someone crashes into him.

Clint.

"Sorry," he mumbles, before hurrying past Newt.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" he calls him back. "Where's Lauren?"

Clint's face seems to grow pale in a fraction of a second. He looks down and mutters something unaudible.

"What?" Newt asks, growing even more worried now.

"In the room next to yours," Clint answers, still quietly. "But we can't save her."

Those five simple words destroy all of Newt's remaining hope immediately.

He can hear his blood rustle in his ears, but instead of collapsing to the floor and start crying, he hurls into Lauren's room, even though his ankle protests with a wave of pain.

He only wants to see her.

She is lying on the bed, her face as pale as the white blankets, her dark hair spreaded out over the cushion.

Her eyes are closed, but the steady rising and falling of her chest proves that she is still alive.

Newt limps to the chair next to her bed and sits down. He puts his elbows on his knees.

"Why _you_, Lauren?" he whispers quietly, though he knows she can't answer him. While the tears finally start to roll down his cheeks, he holds her hand and starts to sing.

He starts to sing about him and her, about how happy they were, and how that has been taken away from them.

His voice is slow and choked by tears, but he still hopes that Lauren can hear him.

_My heart is sinking_

_As you're lifting_

_Up above the clouds, away from me_

_And I can't believe you're leaving_

_Oh, I don't know what I'm gonna do_

Newt grips her hand a little tighter when he continues singing.

_But someday_

_I will find my way back to where your name_

_Is written in the sand_

_'Cause I remember every sunset_

_I remember every word you said_

_We were never gonna say goodbye_

_Tell me how to get back to_

_Back to summer paradise with you_

_And I'll be there in a heartbeat_

_Oh, I'll be there in a heartbeat_

Newt swallows hardly when the words for the next verse flow into his head. He goes on before he can start crying.

_My soul is broken_

_Streets are frozen_

_I can't stop these feelings melting through_

_And I'd give away a thousand days, oh_

_Just to have another one with you_

_Well, real life can wait_

_We're crashing like waves_

_Playing in the sand_

_Holding your hand_

The tears stream down his face now, but he doesn't want to wipe them away, because he has to let go of Lauren's hand then.

_I remember every sunset_

_I remember every word you said_

_We were never gonna say goodbye_

_Tell me how to get back to_

_Back to summer paradise with you_

_And I'll be there in a heartbeat_

_I remember where we first kissed_

_How I didn't wanna leave your lips_

_And how I've never ever felt so high_

_So tell me how to get back to_

_Back to summer paradise with you_

_And I'll be there in a heartbeat_

_And I'll be there in a heartbeat_

_I'll be there in a heartbeat_

And at the moment that Newt sings those last words, he can feel the heartbeat leave Lauren's fingers.

She exhales for the last time with a slight _puff_.

Newt feels his heart break into a billion pieces.

_She is dead. _

_Lauren doesn't live anymore._

He puts his hands on his face and finally starts to sob.

He must have sat there for hours, because by the time his heartbroken sobbing stops, it's already lunch time.

His cheeks and eyes are red and painful by then, and his throat feels like he has swallowed a litre of acid, but the pain he feels from the inside is a thousand times worse than that.

For a moment, he really thinks he can't have it anymore, that it will be better when he is with Lauren.

He almost starts to cry again when he sees her lying there, motionless, _lifeless_, but this time he holds back.

He is sure that if she was still alive, she would smile at him and say that there was nothing to worry about. That everything is going to be all right.

Newt wipes the tears from his cheeks. Lauren has sacrified herself for him, she has given her life for him, and he will make sure she hasn't done that for nothing. He won't try to die again. Ever.

He closes his eyes, tries to smile, and whispers quietly:

"Thank you, Lauren. For saving my life."


	42. Epilogue

_WICKED Headquarters, 9-18-2015_

_Zoey Sonrisa, employee 6496_

_Note: Several months have passed since Lauren's death, and subject Newt seems to have recovered from his broken ankle and, more important, his sadness about Lauren. _

_He made every single Glader cry on her funeral with his heartbreaking speech, even the Builders and the Runners. _

_The nightmares about how Lauren got shot have finally gone away, but he still goes to her grave every day, often with flowers, sometimes just to make sure there are no weeds growing there. _

_The Gladers seem to react well on the new subject's arrival – his name is Chuck – though they sometimes think he is a bit annoying. We are going to send Thomas up in a week. _

_I know mister Carp is going to yell at me when he reads that I have written this down, but I think it is a good thing that Lauren has given Newt those memories back. It will be an interesting Variable when Thomas arrives at the Glade, for the Gladers know that he can help them. _

_I am really curious about how the Gladers are going to react on him, especially Newt. _

_Maybe Thomas can actually get them out. Who knows; my colleagues do not call him the Key because they think that is a nice nickname for him._

_But for now, we can only wait and prepare Thomas for the nightmare he is going to go through._

***obviously The Maze Runner comes after this, but I think you already figured that out :)***

**And that's the end of the first fanfiction I've ever written in my life!**

**Thanks for everything, reading my story, posting reviews, the over-10.000 views I have, I really, really love it!**

**I am sure that I will be starting another fanfiction over a while, so please keep an eye on it :)**

**Bye!**


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